Making the blind see again

The trio of Chief Emma Akana, Mr Akinbanjo Sikiru and Akhabue Friday had one thing in common – blindness. They got their sight back through cornea transplant. OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTAPHA reports.

I can now drive after losing my sight and getting it back through the help of Eye Bank at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja. I can boast of driving around because I enjoy driving, it is one of my hobbies and one of those things I was missing.”

These were the words of Chief Emma Akana, a 73-year- old retired engineer, on regaining his sight through the intervention of Eye Bank for Restoring Sight Nigeria (EBRSN). He was not the only one, who underwent the latest surgery. Five of them did.

Akana lost his sight to cataract and glaucoma. So also did Akinbanjo Sikiru, a 75-year-old retired military officer and 31-year-old Akhabue Friday.

Recounting how he lost his sight some six years ago, Akana said he had gone to Lagos General Hospital and some teaching hospitals. “But it was disheartening that the doctors were referring me to India. I suspected that they wanted to get commission from my referral. None mentioned the Eye Bank at LASUTH to me,” he said.

Then, one afternoon the news from his transistor radio turned his predicament around. “I brought in my radio and switched it on around 1pm on that fateful day because I had learnt to carry out some simple tasks on my own. At the end of the news, the newscaster said: ‘The next programme (Bulletin) is on health with special reference to the eye.’ That made some sense to me because that was actually my problem. The continuity announcer said the guest was going to discuss cornea blindness, which was exactly my problem, so I got interested. It was during the discussion that I heard Dr. Mosun Faderin-Omotosho introduce the non-governmental organisation (NGO), Eye Bank. She said they have been doing cornea transplant for long. Dr Faderin-Omotosho talked about the origin in Nigeria and what the NGO stood to do at that time,” Akana said.

He recalled that she gave the NGO’s phone numbers. “Luckily for me; my daughter was home on vacation so, I called her and she took down the numbers. When my wife got back, I told her that there was yet another place we could try again. We put a call through and the person who picked the call said their office was at Ikeja General Hospital and they gave us an appointment for the following week,” he said. He then went for the appointment.

Not somebody, who sweeps his experience under the carpet, Akana lamented: “No doctor had ever mentioned it to me that such could be done in Nigeria, even at the teaching hospital, none made mention of this Eye Bank that have been doing cornea transplant in the country since 2008. What I have noticed is that Nigerian doctors don’t relate well among themselves.”

Now a patient with Eye Bank, Akana kept his appointments with some other patients, who met the requirements for cornea transplant. “At that point, we were five in number. Like joke, like joke, after three months, in May 2013, we were booked for operation. We all were operated upon. I was the first person to be operated on May 10, by a surgeon/ophtalmologist, Dr. Olubanji Oluyadi. On the 11th, the stitches were removed from each one of us,” he said.

Akana was excited at the success of the operation. “I was able to identify my wife standing right before me. After six years, I saw light! My wife asked if I could see. I replied her by describing the colours of the skirt and top she was putting on and added that the doctor was wearing a black trousers and a white shirt. Gradually, my eyes started getting clearer and clearer. I said I wanted to go and ease myself, she asked if I could. I did as I found my way to and fro. Honestly, since that day till today, I have never had any problem with my eyes; I have been attending regular check-up with the doctor. And out of the five of us that went in for the operation, none has ever come down with any serious complications, all the surgeries were successful. We all improve every day.”

Akana then went philosophical. “Most of the other patients were younger and I felt for them because they were still working and have a lot still ahead of them as against me, who was already 70 at the time of the operation. I am happy we all got back our sights,” he said.

Friday, who also regained his sight through cornea transplant, said he had got a new job as a cashier/front desk officer with an airline. “The cornea transplant gave me a second chance. My friends when they heard about the planned surgery said I was going to be given cow’s eyes, but I was too desperate to try anything to get back my sight and that was why I clung to that ray of hope the Eye Bank promised. I will advise as well that anybody that has eye problem should go to hospital and not religious houses, which complicated my case and made me lose my sight eventually,” he said.

Akinbanjo said he was happy to see his grandchildren and great grandchildren. “I am so happy nobody was tired of me by way of walking me around. As a pensioner, it is not easy to go about getting my money with somebody having to follow me and do all the running around. But now, with my sight back, I do all that myself,” he said.

Explaining how more Nigerians can benefit from the Eye Bank, Consultant Ophthalmologist/Medical Director EBRSN Dr Faderin-Omotosho said an Eye Bank is where corneas removed from dead donors soon after their deaths are processed and kept until they are used by eye surgeons for sight restoration. It is called cornea transplant. People could pledge their eyes before death, leaving a legacy of sight.

Faderin-Omotosho explained: “Cornea transplants were first carried out in the late 60s and early 70s in Nigeria with corneas obtained from abroad. Gradually, supply became scarce and eventually it stopped. To obtain donor cornea, processing fees, freight, and other charges must be paid, and this is separate from the surgical fees. Majority of those that really need this restorative surgery cannot afford it. Despite the cornea graft decree of 1973, there was no Eye Bank set up or cornea donation. In 2003, at Chief Olaseinde Akinsete’s 75th birthday, he monetised all his birthday presents and the money collected was used to set up this Eye Bank at LASUTH.

“The Lagos State Government donated the present accommodation within LASUTH. Cultural beliefs, religion and taboos are hindering the take off of the cornea donation culture. The Eye Bank is committed to a continous process of harvesting, processing and storage of corneas so that the generality of Nigerians with cornea blindness can regain their sight through cornea graft.”

She said the Eye Bank is committed to a continuous process of harvesting, processing and storage of corneas so that the generality of Nigerians with cornea blindness can regain their sight through cornea graft. Fund and donours for corneas are the main challenges.

“The EBRSN started as a joint project of the Ophthalmological Society of Nigeria and the Federal Nigeria Society for the Blind in 2004. Sometime in 2008, the Board took a decision to facilitate cornea transplantation so as to let people know that cornea blindness is a reversible form of blindness. To date, the EBRSN has facilitated 89 cornea grafts. Six recipients were re-grafted and their corneas have remained clear. August 2010, the first pair of corneas was harvested locally from a Nigerian donor. September 2012, there was another local harvesting of corneas. These corneas were all transplanted and the recipients are doing fine,”she said.

She continued: “Cornea donation is giving a gift of “life’, i. e. sight. This is a gift that goes on living that even after you are no more, that part of you is still alive. Decide today to give a gift that will make people remember you. Obtain the donor form, fill and inform your family. You can include the decision in your will also. Carry your donor card with you always. Spread the word around so that others can do the same, especially those that have benefitted from cornea graft. Let us do good by being our brother’s keeper. No religion is against doing good. The Eye Bank is situated within the Eye Institute Complex at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital. 1-5, Oba Akinjobi Street, G.R.A. Ikeja. Telephone: 0805-7715029;0803-6548791,E-mail: [email protected]”